SOLDIER's Dream
by The Reader of Words
Summary: "Zack, Aerith and the Goddess team up, and send Cloud back in time. Except, they got the time . . . just a BIT off. Oh, well. No reason not to start early. Even if it's far earlier than planned." Please, if you read, review. I'd like to know how I'm doing. Rating is for swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, my fellow Readers. A quick bit before you read this first chapter. I was trawling through my Christmas list of music and absently wishing there was a new FFVII Time Travel fic I could read that didn't involve explicit screwing of the intimate bedroom type, bedroom being optional. When, it hit me: write my own. But, what to write? Then I heard one of the songs, from a very well done movie. I'll let you know ****_what _****movie when it gets to the part with the song, which won't be until close to the end, and I warn you now, I have no freaking clue how long this is gonna be. I'm expecting minimum of ten chapters, maximum of thirty, if that.**

**The title is from a mix of what happens in this story, and the words passed down the Angeal-Zack-Cloud student-teacher line. There may be other songs I mix in, and you will have who sang them and where I heard them at the end of each chapter. If not, review and tell me or PM me about it, and I'll fix it. **

**Now, on, to my musically inspired madness . . . *ominous, overdone cackling is heard***

~O~O~O~

Cloud had been dreaming when they offered to help him save what was lost.

To explain, the 'they' in question were none other than Zack Fair -who he'd thought he was until he figured out his head was screwed on wrong and then realized the man was his best friend and blood brother **(1)** - and Aerith Gainsborough - who he loved as a sister if only because of Zack, loved her as a woman because he to a degree thought he _was_ Zack, then went back to square one feeling supremely awkward about square two (The Dress Incident _did not help_. Stop looking at him like that. _And stop laughing._)-, who he learned were entirely more meddlesome then when they were alive to cause havoc and mayhem in his life.

It went roughly like 'hey, you wanna travel to the past, save most of everyone who died, screw over the baddies, make the Planet live more than just the century it's got left and generally rearrange things more to your liking?' spoken in a tone of voice as one would use while asking about the weather, how was your day, did you get a new haircut, things like that. Which is why it took a full half minute for Cloud to hear the words instead of the tone, because he'd been tuning Zack out in revenge for his toilet prank last week (Lifestream had surge up out of the Hangover Throne of the Porcelain Gods, who Cloud had never actually had cause to pay homage to, and scared the ever-loving shit out of him. Cloud could swear he heard Zack hiccupping in between raucous laughter). When the words got though, Cloud turned and _stared_ at him, as if he'd said he'd known exactly what Hojo was up to and condoned the whole thing.

"Don't look at me like I killed your motorcycle, Spike. And I'm serious. Me and Aerith can send you back. How far, we're not sure, so we're putting our all into it. We just need your permission." When Cloud just continued to stare at him blankly, Zack, already wound tight as a strung bowstring from all this, panicked. When he panicked -in a non-combat situation, anyway-, he did as he always did.

He began to ramble. "Well, we don't really, but you've had enough shit shoved at you and Aerith and I both refused to even consider it unless you said yes which kinda ticked the Goddess off-"

"Alright" Cloud agreed, knowing Zack wouldn't actually hear him for a moment yet.

"-but She can't force a Cetra to do anything they don't want to do and I'm under Aerith's protection so she can't force _me_ to do anything, which I guess is some Old Magick thing, but please Cloud, there are so many things that can be fixed and you wouldn't be alone at all-"

"_Zack._" Cloud emphasized the word in a way that only those who'd been in a military setting would understand, and only those who'd been under command of such a voice would listen to. **(2)** Zack snapped to attention, sharp salute and all. "At ease." Zack went to parade rest, looking confused as to why he'd done so. "I said I'll do it. How long will it take for you and Aerith to be ready?"

Zack _squirmed_. Cloud was instantly suspicious. "Weeell," Zack drew the word out, looking around like he expected some thing to leap out at him. Or, more likely, _hoping_ something would. Cloud _Looked_ at him. He caved. "Aerith and I need to gather as much energy as possible. For the next year and a day - which I know is Old Magick - there will be no births. No new plant life. The old and frail, the weak and sick, will die. All of which will be used to punt you as far back as we can, where this will never have happened. So."

Cloud thought about that. On the one hand, it was morally reprehensible and the kind of thing he'd normally be fighting fang and claw against. On the other, it'd save so many millions, and the entire process of using it would make it so it wasn't used. Ow, headache. "I'm going back to the past, where it will not have happened. It's a terrible thing to do. But it will save so many more than it sacrifices, and the Planet will live longer." He didn't like it. He also hadn't like killing Sephiroth, any of the three times. But he'd done it, first in revenge, the to protect the Planet, then to save the Planet. Surely, this would go well. And, nothing would go wrong.

Famous Last Words, said the shiver going down his spine that went ignored.

~O~O~O~

_**A Year Later, One Day Until the **__**JUMP, Aerith's Church**_

As expected, it was eventually noticed. Certain people also noticed their hero and savior doing exactly nothing, as if it weren't blatantly unnatural for it all to be happening. They'd hounded him, and he put all his anti-social brooding to use by summarily avoiding all but Vincent, who could not be avoided so much as politely sidestepped, and that was if he wasn't interested in stalking you. If he was, you had no privacy. It was merely Cloud's bad luck - or Fate fucking with him one last time, the bitch. He knew gods existed - that Vincent got Cloud cornered on the _very last day_ before it was all to happen.

So, seeing as there were literal minutes until this timeline completely unraveled, Cloud gave him an edited version, leaving out only what would happen to this time. Vincent stared, actually shocked into muteness, as two specters, a man and woman, appeared above the blessed water. One was Aerith as he'd known her. The other must have been the much-missed Zack Fair.

Contrary to all stories told of the slain hero, he was dead serious. It made the faint x scar on his jaw stand out, despite not being corporeal.

Cloud looked Vincent straight in the eye, said only "I want to be sorry, but really, I can't be." And stepped toward his intangible friends.

Before Vincent could formulate even a wisp of a thought -because really, what?- Cloud had taken their hands -_what?!_- stepped onto the water as if it were solid ground -seriously?- and vanished, as if he'd never been.

Unnoticed, all around Vincent, all around the world, everything began to unravel.

~O~O~O~

**(1)** Blood Brother meaning, in this instance, that they were really brothers in all but blood and name, and then some. Their respective spouses would be as sister/brother-in-laws to each other, they would be godparents to each others children upon birth/adoption of said children preceding any and all other contracts or oaths, they would provide for the other when they themselves could not, and unquestionably help each other, if not without teasing and/or whining and bitching involved. They would lie, cheat, steal, kill, foreswear all but their own blood-kin for each other, and even that was iffy. It's Old Magic of the Mountain, that Cloud told Zack about before his memories when disco ball on him. This definition, I did not get from anywhere. I cobbled together bits and pieces from memory of such things and put in a dramatic flair of my own. Don't swear by this, because it's mostly codswallop.

**(2)** The tone of voice used is like a Drill Sargent(sp?) would use, except spoken softly instead of shouted. Cloud didn't need to raise his voice to be heard. He spoke softly, and you listened, or he would have your hide for it. This was common to the shy mountain boy way back before Zack got his hands on him. He just didn't like doing it, because it'd scared him. By the time of Advent Children, he simply no longer gave a damn, and when confronted with rampant stupidity -or hyperness to rival Zack- he was not afraid to be firm, stern and intimidating as your angry mother wielding a wooden spoon. Which is about how people felt, when he did that. To date, the only one who figured it out was Vincent Valentine, and that only because he recalled a tiny graying woman that reminded him vaguely of Cloud who'd gotten the best Turks to back down, behave and eat her delicious homemade cookies by giving them a Look. Later, when asked, Vincent found out the woman was Cloud's paternal grandmother. Which made Vincent feel old, for the first time.

**Review, review, review. What you liked, didn't like, spelling errors my two-days-no-sleep mind missed, sparse detail in places, or, hell, even just to tell me what kind of ice cream you like. I like Hot Fudge Pecan Royal. Mostly for the salty pecans in the sweet ice cream. The fudge is a bonus. The whipped cream, I can do without, and the cherry I am indifferent to.**

~O~O~O~

Preview of the next chapter. Possibly.

~O~

_"Thank you for joining this expedition, Storm Strife. We can use every bit of help available." Cloud merely looked at the man with laughing green eyes, and knew there was a god or goddess, somewhere, that despised his very existence. "My pleasure, Professor Gast Faremis." They were gonna make this _hurt.

~O~O~O~

**I am going to bed before I hurt myself, likely by tripping over nothing. Goodnight, my fellow Readers.**

* * *

**Hello, my fellow Readers. It's been edited a bit. I went over it and saw that the footnotes were a bit bothersome. Got rid of a few, changed one other. Review, and tell me how you like it. I'll be doing my best to get the second chapter out this week. So no lynching me. XP**

**And a thank you, those who have favorited**

**Amayelle, Inside Us Only Stars, Janneia, Jayde5, MaeveFaye, Nucima, chess211, misminor, scarletavatre, sdphantom10, and survan75. **

**The followers,**

**Amayelle, Azalie-Kauriu, DarcyJackson, Dog Lover 120, Escagirl, Janneia, Lost Socks and Leprechauns, Mystic 777, SnowLeopard167, Twix03, VioletisinPain, kuro-okami13, misminor, santanaann4524, scarletavatre, sdphantom10, surban75, tatiana1989 and vampirewishes.**

**And last, but most certainly not least, the reviewers. **

**sdphantom10, Dog Lover 120 and Mystic 777, who's comment prompted me to take another look-see at this chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, my fellow Readers! As promised, here's my next chapter. Nothing to say here, so get to the reading!**

~O~O~O~

Cloud landed in the past exactly where he'd left it, with two key differences. One, it was nighttime. And thank the Goddess for that, because, two, the church around him looked like it was_ still in use_. As per the perrogitive all soldiers and other military persons have when things go FUBAR**(1)**, he got the hell out of Dodge. Upon reaching the outside, looking up, he saw not Midgar's Plates, looming over one and all in the Slums, but a truly gorgeous night sky, the stars all visible and the moon shining bright. But for the feeling of dread rattling though his bones, it'd be a perfect night in the country.

So seeming, Cloud started to walk around, trying not to look as much out of place as he felt, a feeling he hoped would go away. Seeing as he was a glowing-eyed stranger with a huge sword, dressed all in black, in a little country town, he didn't have much hope of that working. At least, until he caught his reflection in a nearby puddle (it had rained rather heavily in the last two days. the packed dirt of the roads was still soft and off to the sides were little streams, still filled with rainwater). And stared in shock.

Looking back at him was a stranger. Plain brown hair, skin just shy of what you'd call tanned, warm brown eyes that did _not_ glow (dammit, Aerith! Though, come to that, what would glowing _brown_ eyes look like? All the SOLDIERS he'd seen had glowing blue eyes or, in the case of Sephiroth, acid-green cat-slit, which was more due to Jenova than anything else. Weird.), hell, even his cheekbones were slimmer, not so rounded as before. . . . but for the hairstyle, clothes and First Tsurugi, he looked nothing like himself. And he was older. His actual age, older. Which, well. There was going to be a little-him running around, and two people who looked_ that much_ alike _had_ to be related, and he'd be far enough back to be able to claim he was his own _father_, and _no_. Not happening.

And he'd need an alias, too. Two Cloud Strifes was not acceptable. But he still wanted it to by related to the sky, and Skye was his mother's name, so that was a no go . . . Lightning? Sounds like a girls name. Rain? Too gloomy, he'd had enough of that, thanks. Mist? No, also sounded like a girls' name. Sun was too sunny for him. Storm, maybe? Storm Strife. Why not. Off topic. Back to his appearance.

Once he realized he'd been staring in the puddle for an amount of time not really allowable without seeming less than sane, he coughed lightly and looked around. Nope, still alone. Thank the Goddess for small mercies. Time to get back to his mission.

~O~

Leaving Midgar, which was still Middanger (which was it's original name before Shin-Ra took over. Who knew?) at this point, and wandering around, earning a reputation as a Master Swordsman -capitols _must_ be included, _they insist_. Wonderful (regardless of losing most of his enhancements, he was still head-and-shoulders above the rest of humanity. Just enough to still wield his suspiciously lightened First Tsurugi. _Aerith._)-, Cloud thought it was about time to find out when, exactly, he was, in relation to his mission's goals. It'd been several months since his arrival, and he thought it about time he start attempting to change things. Changing things found him, however.

Finding out when he was hadn't proved too much trouble. He'd all but crashed into Vincent Valentine. Though it'd taken him a moment to realize the blue-suited young man staring at him actually was his stoic friend. Given that Vincent appeared to be about twenty if he was a day, he figured himself for fifty years in the past, since it'd been ten years since Meteorfall. He could work with that. Delicately. Ah, hell, he didn't know what to do with this. He was screwed.

Vincent's deep voice brought him out of his thoughts. And salvaged the mission to save the future, not that he'd know that until many, many years later. "I'm just heading out on a grocery run, and I'm the one that finds you. My luck, really." And he sounded exasperated. There was emotion in his voice. Cloud's hate for Hojo got just that little bit more intense. Wait, looking for _him_?

"Who's looking for me, and what do they want." Cloud meant it as a question, but it came out a statement. He still had trouble audibly emoting, at times. Damn Hojo. Luckily, Vincent, even an emoting Vincent, was versed in stoic-talk. Vincent straightened up some, and answered automatically.

"You're Storm Strife the Master Swordsman, right." Upon receiving a nod of confirmation, he continued, "I'm Vincent Valentine, a Turk of the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company, and the leading Professor in our Science Department is undertaking a dangerous operation, dangerous more because of where it's located than anything else." Vincent stopped, looking vaguely uncomfortable. He was _showing emotion_! Another Hate Point for Hojo. "I'm not supposed to tell you much unless you accept the job."

"Which is." Another failure as a question. Cloud thought he might have to practice putting emotions in his voice. Might disturb people, after all.

"To bodyguard the Professor, kill attacking monsters, make sure he gets there." At Cloud's mostly impassive, indifferent stare silently demanding more information, the Turk actually started to do a very professionally controlled form of babbling. "Budget cuts and bad luck recently have made it so we, the Turks who'd normally handle something like this, are either stretched too thin or too injured ourselves to do this. I-I'm the only Turk who's actually guarding him, and I j-just got off r-rookie detail, so-"**(2)**, Cloud had to cut him off. Watching the man who would've one day saved the world stutter like a teen before their crush was becoming somehow painful, amusing as it was.

"I'll do it." Cloud's still monotone voice silenced the nervous Turk. Who looked extremely relived at his acceptance.

"Great! Um, let me inform my superiors about this, and tell the Professor - you know I'm still gonna be here, right? As good as rumor makes you out to be, you're still just one man, and two is better than one on a detail like this, as the older Turks tell me- and arrangements for your stay can be made, Shin-Ra's a lot wealthier than you'd expect of a power company-" Vincent's chatter was tuned out mostly (chatter! Vincent! Was he sure this _wasn't_ some kind of dream), glad as Cloud was to see him. This job meant he'd be close enough to Shin-Ra that he'd be able to keep an eye on the goings on. He still wasn't sure how he'd change things, but he'd just have to wing it. Zack really had been a bad influence on him.

~O~

There are days, Cloud thought dazedly, where he was sure he was being watched over by the Goddess. Those days were few and far between, days such as when he'd met Zack, when he was able to wield the huge Buster Sword and kill Sephiroth the first time, when they'd actually managed to get away form The Lab in the first place and staying away from their pursuers for a whole year, when Tifa was the one who'd found him in the Slums and was the one to watch over him whilst his mind put itself back together after being ravaged, when he'd actually been able to defeat _Sephiroth_ a second time in combat that was all but one-on-one, insane as he'd been, when it had happened a third time despite Cloud being terminally ill on the brink of death mere moments previously, and of course, being able to go back in time to make sure none of that happened.

There were also days, when he was sure someone out there-not the Goddess, he knew She liked him too much even if She did like to screw with him now and then - that very much _did not like_ him. This day, was of the second variety.

"So, you're Storm Strife the Master Swordsman, huh?" The Professor that Cloud would be guarding said to him merrily, laughter in his gentle green eyes that shone even despite the chestnut hair falling in his eyes. "Hope you're up to what the rumors say. All told we're going having some trouble getting to the Northern Crater! Oh, and it's nice to meet you, hope we can be friends despite the conditions."

Cloud, staring at the man a moment, shook the hand offered him, sealing the deal in the old-fashioned way under Vincent's nervous-but-watchful gaze. "Nice to meet you too, Professor Faremis." Shocked as he was, his Ma had taught him manners.

"Oh, do call me Gast. Every time I hear 'Professor Faremis' I want to look around for my father." Gast Faremis, Aerith's one-day-_father, _grinned at the not-visibly-stunned swordsman. This was going to _hurt_ if he wasn't careful.

Days like this Cloud was sure there was another god or goddess, somewhere out there, and _they hated his guts._

~O~O~O~

**(1)** Military acronym. Fucked Up Beyond All Repair. There's also AWOL, Away WithOut Leave. And SNAFU, Situation Normal All Fucked Up. I may also use the military language. Once I figure out how, mind you.

**(2)** Cloud doesn't actually realize how intimidating he is. Even brown-haired, -eyed and darker skinned, he still cuts an impressive figure. Which _will_ come back to bite him later, and maybe help him, as well. Possibly next chapter, if I can wrangle it. This is a very stubborn bunny, but it will be written.

**Well, that's done. Took me a few hours of going back and forth between this, other stories I'm reading, listening to The Stowaway and some chicken noodles soup with grilled cheese, but here it is, as promised. Whew. Also, a funny thing as I was going back over this . . . a correction for Jenova in spell-check-correct? Jehovah. Now ain't that funny? No? Well, I thought it was worth a giggle . . .**

**Review, Review, Review. It feeds me, and gives me ideas. And goes toward the effort of reviving my self-esteem.**


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